Cruise Day # 6 and COVID

[Ukigirl]

11 minutes ago, topnole said:

A few things could explain this.  If you self tested and didn’t do it just right it could lead to false negatives.  Also, the incubation period can vary a lot.  10 days is long, but possible. Also you may have had it before that and just didn’t test positive yet.  Who knows.  But it would seem most probable you got it traveling.  Interestingly, loss of taste and smell is less common with current dominant strains.  

I went to urgent because I thought I had sinus infection and tested negative. Only reason I decided to test today was because I couldn’t taste my coffee so guess that’s still a symptom 😳

[GTO-Girl]

We got off the Mariner on Sunday the 15th and I tested positive on Tuesday.  We drive to the port so no airlines involved.

 

There were people who had planned on doing a B2B but tested positive after the first leg and had to get off when we did..

[slidergirl]

16 hours ago, cruizergal70 said:

Or it could be long Covid. People are having symptoms months and even years later. Some have permanent damage. Most doctors are not equipped to treat.

oh, I know I have long COVID.  I first had COVID in it's original form back in Jan 2020, before testing & vax. I have vertigo, bouts of major fatigue, some other things from that.  The cough was under control until I caught omicron when it ran through our condo team.  The cough came back major, so far, the usual hasn't helped.  So, that's why the ENT is next.  

 

As the ACE inhibitor:  I had been on lisinoprol for awhile, but stopped a year ago because we thought i might be getting the "lisinoprol cough."  So, we thought of this one already. 

 

I'll have my sign ready...

[slidergirl]

As far as testing negative but then contracting COVID:  Remember that the test is only a snapshot of your status at the moment you take the test...

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, slidergirl said:

As the ACE inhibitor:  

Am I the only that thinks that's a nicer term than "blocked"? - like, if you think you had enough of @ace2542 outlandish opinions/ideas you'd like to exercise the inhibitor option on CC.

[slidergirl]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Am I the only that thinks that's a nicer term than "blocked"? - like, if you think you had enough of @ace2542 outlandish opinions/ideas you'd like to exercise the inhibitor option on CC.

You misunderstand:  "ACE Inhibitor" is a type of medication.  It is used for blood pressure issues, 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

You misunderstand:

And I think

 

[Tatka]

    We cruised 1 time with Celebrity and 5 times with RCI after restart. One of those times we got Covid. It was not pleasant, but not worse than a flu which we got twice out of 52 cruises. 

 

   I think at this time when shots and boosters are available we need to stop worrying sick about Covid and live our lives. Thankfully it seems that governments, companies, cruiselines have the same ideas now. Hospitals are now overwhelmed, death numbers are low.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Tatka

[rudeney]

3 hours ago, Tatka said:

    We cruised 1 time with Celebrity and 5 times with RCI after restart. One of those times we got Covid. It was not pleasant, but not worse than a flu which we got twice out of 52 cruises. 

 

   I think at this time when shots and boosters are available we need to stop worrying sick about Covid and live our lives. Thankfully it seems that governments, companies, cruiselines have the same ideas now. Hospitals are now overwhelmed, death numbers are low.

 

I assume you meant, "Hospitals are not 'overwhelmed?"  A friend who is a nurse at our largest hospital in town said on Monday that they have only 3 COVID-19 patients, despite our test positivity rate over over 10%.  It sure seems like it's time to stop treating this like a death sentence.  Its probably time to stop testing and quarantining people on ships.  We may end up with ships full of people coughing and sniffling and a few may even feel really bad, but it's nowhere near the same level of danger as it was two years ago, or even one year ago.

[Tatka]

6 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

I assume you meant, "Hospitals are not 'overwhelmed?"  A friend who is a nurse at our largest hospital in town said on Monday that they have only 3 COVID-19 patients, despite our test positivity rate over over 10%.  It sure seems like it's time to stop treating this like a death sentence.  Its probably time to stop testing and quarantining people on ships.  We may end up with ships full of people coughing and sniffling and a few may even feel really bad, but it's nowhere near the same level of danger as it was two years ago, or even one year ago.

 

Yes. You are right. Not overwhelmed. Nobody is stressing even in our Massachusetts which was pretty strict about all measures.

[Jasukkie]

I also tested positive on day 6 of my cruise. My travel partner was more symptomatic than me initially and tested negative on the antigen test, and then positive on PCR, which is not uncommon.

 

Between false negatives, poorly performed swabbing, testing too soon relative to infection, and the ease of faking a test result, I'm kind of over pre-embarkation testing. It may be giving some people a false sense of security too. 

 

As a nurse who has taken care of Covid patients, I say confidently good masks work very well when properly worn. That ends when you take them off to eat and drink, etc. As for current hospitalization numbers at my work, it's been in the 20s lately, which is easy compared to the past. The much bigger problem is people like me missing a week of work after vacation due to isolation.

[rudeney]

3 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

As a nurse who has taken care of Covid patients, I say confidently good masks work very well when properly worn. That ends when you take them off to eat and drink, etc. As for current hospitalization numbers at my work, it's been in the 20s lately, which is easy compared to the past. The much bigger problem is people like me missing a week of work after vacation due to isolation.

 

When the precautions are more of a threat than the disease, it's probably time to stop taking such extreme precautions.  

[joeyancho]

We recently cruised the western Caribbean out of Galveston.   We are vaccinated and double boosted.  We received the 2nd booster about a week before the cruise. We flew in from Vegas,  took the RC shuttle to the port.  All without the mask (what a relief).  Entire cruise and all ports were maskless. Took the same shuttle to the airport and flew back to Vegas. Once again without the mask.  After 2 days at home my wife felt a bit punk.  She self tested and was positive.  I tested with same result.    Thankfully it seems to be a mild case.  No fever, just a lot of coughing and a stuffy nose.  No loss of taste or smell.  Presumably the shots contributed to our mild cases.  Do we blame Royal?  Of course not.  I am surprised it took us this long to get it.  Thankfully we did not test positive on board.   Perhaps we should have used the mask in crowded situations.   We have a cruise out of Miami in August.   I imagine the natural antibodies from getting covid will give us greater protection.   But really, who knows?   But we don't live in fear.  So we will be more cautious and carry on. 

  

[ReneeFLL]

On 5/24/2022 at 8:35 PM, Jimbo said:

Why bother, why not find another way to spend your vacation dollar? Just fly to Bermuda and spend the week there…

 

Jimbo, you do realize that people catch covid in other places and not just on ships? Why are you always telling people they should spend their money elsewhere? I’m sure they already know this. They are here because they like cruising, but it sounds like you don’t. 🤔

 

13 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

…and the ease of faking a test result,…

How can a test be faked? Not that I would want to, but just curious. I had taken a home test on a cruise recently and the test said to insert the swab until the lid touched your noise. The swab was attached to a lid that screwed into a jar. It was terrible. Now I know what all the people were complaining about when they were saying they were brain ticklers. They weren’t kidding. Do they fake it by not putting the swab far enough in the nose?
 

 

 

[Jimbo]

8 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Jimbo, you do realize that people catch covid in other places and not just on ships? Why are you always telling people they should spend their money elsewhere? I’m sure they already know this. They are here because they like cruising, but it sounds like you don’t. 🤔

 

 

 

 

So wrong, I love cruising.

 

Just think there are better options out there right now with less chances to catch covid and have it effect your vacation time. 

 

Sure you can catch covid anywhere, just think it's not worth the chance on a cruise ship right now.

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

So wrong, I love cruising.

 

Just think there are better options out there right now with less chances to catch covid and have it effect your vacation time. 

 

Sure you can catch covid anywhere, just think it's not worth the chance on a cruise ship right now.

 

Regardless of whether it's because you are afraid of the virus, or you are afraid of dealing with how the cruise lines manage a positive test, you have every right to feel that way.  Personally, I know there are risks to everything in life.  For me, I weigh the risks against the benefits and find that my chances of becoming very sick or having to spend time in quarantine are very small, but the chances of having a great cruise vacation are nearly 100%, so I choose to cruise.  

[CruiszBug]

Just got off the Wonder TA followed by first Alaska Cruise of the season on Ovation. Things that made me cringe:

1) The number of people that coughed outright without covering or protecting their mouth/nose. (One guy standing at the DL Espresso machine facing me sneezed!)

2) Saw someone touch their face then grab the end of the cappuccino machine that dispenses the coffee to raise/lower the spigot. (If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have thought twice about getting my coffee, but it made me think about others...)

3) Saw someone with their finger stuck inside their ear (itch?) in line for the DL continental breakfast, who reached out and grabbed a pastry with that same hand...

4) The number of people that tried to squeeze into the elevators when they were already shoulder to shoulder.. 

[jerseygirl3]

2 1/2 years as a nurse working around Covid. Managed to avoid it. 5 days into a vacation in south Florida, hubby and I both got Covid. Wear our masks everywhere (but no one in Marco island does)  We're vaxxed and double boosted. And feel like crap. Cant imagine how much worse we'd be without vaccines. Only positive thing is its been a cheap vacation. We've been quarantined for over a week, so no restaurant dining for us. Hopefully we ferl better in a couple if days because this is one miserable virus. 

Edited May 26, 2022 by jerseygirl3

[Keksie]

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

So wrong, I love cruising.

 

Just think there are better options out there right now with less chances to catch covid and have it effect your vacation time. 

 

Sure you can catch covid anywhere, just think it's not worth the chance on a cruise ship right now.

I agree.  For us there are other options for fun vacations.  It takes too much planning and costs too much to chance having to wear a mask, testing stress and possibly being stuck in a lesser cabin for part of the trip.  Would love to cruise but until things change with the protocols we will just make other plans.  

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, CruiszBug said:

Just got off the Wonder TA followed by first Alaska Cruise of the season on Ovation. Things that made me cringe:

1) The number of people that coughed outright without covering or protecting their mouth/nose. (One guy standing at the DL Espresso machine facing me sneezed!)

2) Saw someone touch their face then grab the end of the cappuccino machine that dispenses the coffee to raise/lower the spigot. (If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have thought twice about getting my coffee, but it made me think about others...)

3) Saw someone with their finger stuck inside their ear (itch?) in line for the DL continental breakfast, who reached out and grabbed a pastry with that same hand...

4) The number of people that tried to squeeze into the elevators when they were already shoulder to shoulder.. 

No thanks, rather stay home and deal with that.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Jimbo

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Jimbo, you do realize that people catch covid in other places and not just on ships? Why are you always telling people they should spend their money elsewhere? I’m sure they already know this. They are here because they like cruising, but it sounds like you don’t. 🤔

How can a test be faked? Not that I would want to, but just curious. I had taken a home test on a cruise recently and the test said to insert the swab until the lid touched your noise. The swab was attached to a lid that screwed into a jar. It was terrible. Now I know what all the people were complaining about when they were saying they were brain ticklers. They weren’t kidding. Do they fake it by not putting the swab far enough in the nose?
 

 

 

I was thinking walgrens would have been easy to fake. I gave them a email and my name and stuff online. When I drove up they asked me thru the window my birthday and sent a test thru the window. I could have been anyone who I gave my birthday to. Never asked for any ID. 

 

If I was positive could have sent my friend. 

[xtremegk]

13 hours ago, rudeney said:

 

When the precautions are more of a threat than the disease, it's probably time to stop taking such extreme precautions.  

 

I'd argue that a nurse that works in a building full of people that are sick enough to require hospitalization testing positive is more of a threat, given that if a hospitalized patient contracts COVID, they could face more severe ramifications. (I also worked in a hospital for most of the pandemic.)

[emdia43]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:59 AM, slidergirl said:

oh, I know I have long COVID.  I first had COVID in it's original form back in Jan 2020, before testing & vax. I have vertigo, bouts of major fatigue, some other things from that.  The cough was under control until I caught omicron when it ran through our condo team.  The cough came back major, so far, the usual hasn't helped.  So, that's why the ENT is next.  

 

As the ACE inhibitor:  I had been on lisinoprol for awhile, but stopped a year ago because we thought i might be getting the "lisinoprol cough."  So, we thought of this one already. 

 

I'll have my sign ready...

Have they tried Tessilon Perles? 
 

[Markanddonna]

I have to admit I've seen more poor hygiene on cruise ships than on land. Right before COVID blew up in Feb 2020, we were on a MSC Caribbean cruise. So much coughing and sneezing into the air. By the end, I just wanted to bubble wrap myself and have me sent  home.  I think some people who were coughing on our recent May 2022 cruise who also didn't wear masks thought that no one would think they had COVID if they didn't have a mask on. Egads, frequent coughers! (I'm not talking to the random coughers)  Put a mask on!

[rudeney]

2 hours ago, xtremegk said:

 

I'd argue that a nurse that works in a building full of people that are sick enough to require hospitalization testing positive is more of a threat, given that if a hospitalized patient contracts COVID, they could face more severe ramifications. (I also worked in a hospital for most of the pandemic.)

 

But is that really such a problem TODAY?  I have a friend who is a nurse at our largest area hospital (UAB) and as of Monday, they had 3 COVID patients.  Given our high positivity rate (now over 10%), I'd think if healthcare workers were infecting other patients with COVID, there would be more than 3 of them.  Also, for very sick patients, healthcare workers and other caregivers  need to consider the risk of contracting ANY sort of transmissible disease.